Sony MDRAS800AP Active Sports Smartphone Headset (Black)

My Favorite BT Headset
Only had them for a couple of day, but love them so far.*** Likes ***- Flat/natural sound. If you like potato quality bass bins, then get a set of Beats or Bose or Skull Candy. If you like natural sound or like to tweak the EQ settings on your phone/MP3 player, then this Sony headset is your better choice.- Lightweight. I don’t feel like there’s something heavy hanging from my ears. And the cord that goes behind your neck is short. There’s no slack to bounce around while you’re walking, running, or moving around.- Balanced/secure. I was considering the BackBeat Go2, but I’ve read feedback that the mic/remote piece on the chord makes things feel “lopsided”. Plus, it swings around when you’re running or moving about, due to the extra slack. With this Sony, there are no controls on the chord, so no lopsided issues here. Plus, the design of the chord tapers inward from the earpiece and makes contact with the side of your ear/head. Along with that, the stabilizers and the actual earbud going in your ear.. that makes 3 points of contact to keep everything in place.- NFC is awesome. Unlocked the screen on my Galaxy S3, waved it over the NFC piece on the headset, got a pop-up asking if I wanted to pair with the headset, select Yes.. Ready to use! If you have an iphone or ipod, you gotta pair it up the old fashioned way through the bluetooth settings.- BT signal quality is great. My previous BT headset was a Jabra clipper. Loved that fact that I could use any earphones I wanted. But the Clipper was a piece of junk overall. The signal would break often and was easily prone to interference from other wireless devices and from touching metal objects. You can read my review on it for details. This Sony headset works fantastically in the gym, where there are many other people using BT headsets. I was able to walk away a few yards from my phone and the signal was rock solid.*** Dislikes ***- Huge earpieces. Like other BT headsets of similar design, the earpieces are freakin huge. Basically, looks like you have wine corks plugged in your ears. I understand there’s a lot of technology crammed into these things, but I hope someday they figure out how to shrink things down some more.- Single button operation. This is both a like and dislike. I like not having the controls on the cord. But at the same time, using a single button to control everything is annoying. It’s basically like tapping Morse code.1x press = start/stop music2x press = next track3x press = previous trackshort, long press = vol upshort, short, long press = vol downIt takes some practice, but it’s kinda frustrating at first. They could have put a separate volume control on the other earpiece.- Short USB cord. I guess Sony expects you to charge this thing through a laptop. The USB cord they provided is little over 12 inches. No big deal I guess, since we all have micro USB chargers that came with our phones, right? At least it comes with a nifty carrying case.*** Untested ***- Haven’t properly tested the battery life. I only use these for the gym, and I’ve gotten a good 2+ hours so far. The box says up to 4.5 hours. I’ll see if they can last another 2 workouts.- Apparently, there’s a companion smartphone app for both Android and iOS. I haven’t bothered to look for it, so I’m not sure what the app is supposed to do.- I haven’t tried making phone calls. Honestly, I probably never will. The microphone is located on the right earpiece. I just don’t see how it can clearly pick up your voice. Unless it uses the vibrations in your ear or something.*** TLDR ***Looks clunky, but feels great and sounds awesome. Might not be suitable for phone calls or people with clumsy fingers.

Great Job Sony!
Let’s get right to it. For sub-$100, these are pretty good. I got a great deal on the “blue” pair, so I’d keep an eye out for sales on that color, as long as you’re comfortable wearing teal (it’s not REALLY blue).VOLUME: VOLUME IS ABSOLUTELY FINE. After reading the reviews, the issues people are having is simply they do not know how to turn the volume up by using the multi-function button. Yes, 1 button for ALL functions is both a good and bad thing, but in the interest of weight balance & space, the design works.COMFORT: Very comfortable and secure. No complaints. Had to use the larger ear tips, but they are made of good quality silicone and grip well. They are also a little bit longer than typical, which means they have a larger surface area to grab on to. The ear wings, or whatever they are called, are made of the same material and are quite comfortable. The BT module is centered at the rear of the wire connecting the 2 earbuds, which balances it well, as opposed to the module on just one side, which causes everything to shift in that direction.SOUND: Bright, energetic, with nice, punchy bass. Slightly sibilant, along with some white noise from the internal AMP/DAC, however, when the music is playing, it’s not noticeable. Given these are for sports/activity, it makes sense the sound signature is on the bright, punchy side, with good energy. Perfect for the gym, jogging, etc.OVERALL: Well done set with thoughtful engineering. I’m not a big fan of the multi-function button, but I do realize the necessity given the design they implemented, which is good overall. I also have the Bose Soundsport Wireless, which sounds a bit better, but is not as comfortable by a long shot, and of course, costs twice as much.

These iems are quite good considering they were purchased for under $40.00. They stay in place while walking or running and are very light weight. My ears are tiny, but the eartips and wings fit well. The sound quality actually quite good, as long as you get a good seal. I’m not an expert, but I would call the sound signature is these U shaped, but not overly bassy or sibilant. The major issues with these iems are Sony’s warranty, which might not be valid in Canada. Even if it is, Sony only offers six months. Time will tell if they will last. Additionally the housing on these iems is quite large, so they tend to stick out of the ears a fair bit. In terms of the mic and remote, I can only pause and play with the latest build on my iPhone. This is unfortunate, as I was hoping to be able to control my music without having to access my iPhone. All said, however, I still think these iems are worth getting, particularly if you want something to wear while working out.

They fit very snugly in my ears, have great audio (sound as good as $100+ earbuds I’ve had) and best of all are water resistant and perfect for the gym when I’m not being the most gentle user. Would buy again.